Search options (Page 4 of 4)

<font face="Arial"><font color="orange">Well Since my first post gathered record replies LOL, I Thought I'd write another post out for the beginner, maybe something a bit more lucid.</font>

</font>

<font color="blue"><font face="Arial"><font color="red"><font face="Arial">The First thing you want to do, is obviously get yourself a guitar.  Maybe look into a "kit" for beginners, doesn't have to be anything fancy.  Don't sink a lot of money into it if you think you are just going to drop your whole playing ego in a week.</font></font>

<font color="blue"><font face="Arial">The Next thing you should do is grab yourself a guitar chord chart from a local dollar store or music store, whichever suits you. Make sure it lists ALL of the major chords, as well as the variations and barres. You may also want to get a chart of notes and scales.</font></font>

<font color="red">If you didn't purchase a kit, you will want to get yourself several picks, as they are easy to lose (all though I have never lost one) I recommend trying different styles of picks, get yourself some light picks, medium, heavy, guitar thumb pick, banjo thumb pick, and try them all! for people who don't grip a regular flat pick well, a thumb pick may be your answer.</font></font>

<font face="Arial">

Practice your scales first, then once you have those down, move on to the major chords.  You can learn some minor chords in between all that if you want, but that may just  complicate things.  Don't forget your F Major!! some people find this "too hard" to play, and merely just don't bother with it.  It's a major chord! you need it.</font></font>

<font color="red"><font face="Arial">When playing with other musicians, the most important thing other than knowing your chords and being able to change quickly between them, is timing!  If your timing is not on with the other persons, it will sound horrible.  Most people keep time with their foot, others just do it in their head.  Or you can use a metronome.</font>  </font>

<font face="Arial"><font color="blue">Start out slow and don't give up, no matter what, you can do it! learn some songs that are easy, but also ones that you like.  If a song doesn't hold your interest, what good is it?  Being able to play well takes time.</font></font>

If you need any help with anything, just send me a reply or post something on the chordie forum!  I'm sure this post will get most of our older members in a huff..LOL! So good luck with that, peace

<font color="orange">Here are some tips for the beginners out there, from me (a professional) to you.</font>

<font color="red">If you already have an acoustic guitar, Don't get an electric guitar (until you learn acoustic first) thats the best advice I can give you.  Playing an electric guitar is easy, therefore if you learn on an electric and want to play an acoustic later, you won't be able to...not well anyways.  Playing the acoustic will strengthen your fingers and give you the feel for the frets. </font>

<font color="blue">DVD's are not much good, and are more of a second choice, they work for some people, not for others. </font>

<font color="red">You should get yourself a chord chart listing all the major chords, the minor chords and maybe the scales if you want to be real fancy with it. get those chords learned before moving on.</font>

<font color="blue">

<font color="red">

After you learn the chords, find your strumming rhythm.  Nobody can teach you how to strum, thats something you figure out on your own.  Once you have learned all major chords (except b, that is a jazz chord and isn't used very often, but you can learn it if you want) and can switch between chords quickly, you can start learning the minor chords and others, or some of them anyways.  I Use Am, Bmaj7, D7, G7, Em, and others on a regular basis so thats important. </font>

When you can play a tune blindfolded, with your eyes closed or in the dark, you have learned how to play.  Some people think doing that is hard or impossible, but if you can really play, it isn't even the slightest bit difficult. </font>

<font color="red">Don't be cheap when buying your guitar, it will probably be with you your whole life, the best guitars in the world are made by Martin, Gretsch, Gallagher, Guild, Rickenbacker, Fender and Gibson.  Martin does make some low(er) priced models for beginners, around 700-800 bucks US (I Know thats alot, but it's worth it. </font>

<font color="blue">When choosing your strings, I reccomend Elxir strings, thats all I use and ever will use.  They are coated with some special coating that makes them last for years and years.  I have had a set on my guitar for 3 years and they still sound like brand new, with awesome tone and sound quality.  They will run you about 38 dollars, which is really worth it, because if you had to buy a regular set of strings every 2 months for 3 years, it would cost you quite a bit at around 10 dollars per pack.  If you can't afford these then go with Martin phosphor bronze strings. And for electric go with Fender strings. </font>

<font color="red">If you want a cheap, yet great sounding guitar, Yamaha makes some nice guitars. You can get elixir strings at pretty much any music store or at www.elixir.com, and martin strings at music stores as well or at www.martinstrings.com.  Now back to playing...Don't start out trying to play that "heavy metal" crap, just try some easy folk tunes or old country tunes, which mainly consist of 3 chords, most songs consist of 3 major chords.  Always strum up and down, unless you are playing a waltz which is where you hit the top string and do 2 down strums.  This isn't used very often.  All songs have their own beat, and you need to find it on your own, that can't be taught.  If you don't have a chord chart just go to Google Image search and type in for example "D major guitar chord" or whatever chord you need.  Thats what I do most of the time.  So I hope this helps all you beginners, if you need help with anything at all on the guitar you can send me an email at <a href="mailto:bigdjindustriez&#64;eastlink.ca" target="_blank">bigdjindustriez&#64;eastlink.ca</a> or go to my website at www.bigdjindustriez.tk  Peace out  <img src="images/smiley_icons/icon_biggrin.gif" border=0 alt="Very Happy"> </font>